Growing Your Online Business

eBay's Feedback Fallout

When eBay first announced sweeping changes to their feedback system, the community's response was lukewarm to say the least.  But true to their word, after revisiting the issue eBay has decided to rollback some of these changes, specifically the calculating of Neutral Feedback in the feedback percentage.  eBay sellers should expect to see increases in their Feedback "effective in late August."

But forgive me for burying the lead...towards the bottom of the announcement, Lorrie Norrington hinted that more significant changes to feedback may come and that "buyers should have a mechanism to change feedback if they make a mistake or if the seller rectifies an issue."  Obviously this will have enormous implications for sellers, especially those who strive to differentiate themselves through customer service.  Could it be true?  Will eBay step out of the way and allow the buyer to alter the feedback they left for the seller?  We'll keep a close eye on this as we move closer to a potential October release date...

Come Join Us in Boston for eBay Live!

The great city of Boston, Massachusetts, is hosting eBay Live! next week, June 14-16. Come meet Infopians at the event in Booth #917 and learn about our products and services and all the exciting things we have going on!

Besides providing valuable time with our ecommerce analysts and company leaders, we'll be giving presentations on the following topics:

eCommerce 2.0 - Find out what it is and how you can get it! We will be having hourly presentations on this hot topic to show how you can prepare your business to succeed in the new wave of the internet.

BuySAFE Demo - Learn about building trust by offering bonded protection on your transactions.

Salesforce.com Demo - We can show you how to maximize the lifetime value of your customers using world-class tools combined with the power of Infopia's Marketplace Manager on the AppExchange platform.

eBay Giving Works - Cause marketing is all the rage these days. Learn how you can get involved.

And that's not all! Infopia is also holding a prize drawing. Sign up online, then check out our booth to see a list of winners. Prizes include:

A Scuba/Snorkel Kit - Provided by Visibility Unlimited

A Quality Pool Cue - Provided by Expert Game Room

A Paintball Gun - Provided by Trademygun.com

A Set of Golf Clubs - Provide by Dallas Golf

An iPod - Provided by NextWorth's Great iPod Exchange

But wait! We will also be giving away copies of our eCommerce 2.0 Handbook. Stop by and pick up your copy--and don't forget to get it signed by the author, Ralf VonSosen, VP of Marketing at Infopia! And for our customers, we will be giving away special Customer Gift Bags with Infopia support program information and stocked with a lot of other fun goodies.

Act now and put visiting Infopia's booth at eBay Live! 2007 on your list of things to do next week! We'll be waiting for you in booth #917 in Boston!

Endicia Explains the USPS Rate Changes

Thanks to the folks at Endicia for putting together this great, detailed summary of the USPS rate changes that are coming on May 14th:

http://www.endicia.com/endicia-usa/hot/RateCase.cfm

There are also a few tips and hints in a special edition of their newsletter. Did you know that some of the rates are actually going down? Did you know that some of the shipping methods are going away? Do you know what you need to do to get ready for the changes? Even if you're not using USPS currently, it's a good idea to know what changes are happening and why so you can make sure you're still using the shipping solution that makes the most sense for you. Like G.I. Joe says, knowing is half the battle. Time to bone up on the changes!

Jessica

USPS Rate Changes On the Way

As of May 14th, USPS will be releasing new rates that mostly affect over- and odd-sized domestic shipments, overweight domestic shipments, domestic flat-rate packaging and significant changes in international shipping options and prices. Read the complete information about these changes on the USPS site. Also, learn what eBay's plans are for supporting the changes.

Infopia will fully support the changes USPS is making. Not only will our software support the new rates and options, including in shipping calculators on the websites and within marketplace listings, but our integrations with third-party providers such as Endicia and ShipWorks will also support the changes. Watch for updates and instructions in our email communications as well as here and on our support blog.

Taxes, Taxes, Taxes

So I did my taxes last night.  (Have you done yours?)  Two interesting observations came to me by going through this annual tradition:

1.  TurboTax is awesome.

2.  There are going to be a bunch of people with tax refund checks walking around looking to buy something to reward themselves for being such diligent taxpayers.

On point #1, TurboTax is able to take a complex task and break it into simple steps that allow buyers to feel very safe (ohh that trust factor) and confident (that I was not claiming inappropriate deductions).  A great online shopping experience should do the same thing for buyers - help them trust the seller and feel confident in what they are doing.

Point #2, GET YOUR TAX REFUND PROMOTION kicked off now!!  Create a campaign today to speak to all those happy taxpayers who are receiving a tax refund.  Help them see that your offers are what they have been waiting for to spend their tax refund on.

Best of luck to all of those waiting to do their taxes.

Sunshine in January - shop.org 2007 Show

I jumped at the opportunity to leave the snow behind....and spend a few days in a convention center and exhibit booth next week in Orlando.

Next week is shop.org's Firstlook 2007 event.  This promises to be a great event with insightful speakers, useful sessions, and a wide array of companies to meet.  FirstLook 2007 is future-focused, bringing together Internet and multichannel retailers and service-providers for a look into the key issues of the coming years and the innovations that will help businesses grow.

I always look forward to the conversation I can have with retailers, industry experts, and other solution providers at these events.  Especially at the beginning of the year when I can focus on my plans for the upcoming year and the challenges ahead.

Come visit us in our booth next week if you are heading to Florida.  For those of you who cannot attend, I will provide updates via this blog.  (about the show and about how much sunshine I actually get to enjoy)

For more information:  http://www.shop.org/firstlook07/

Google Top 2006 Search Items

See if your company made the list.  Ok, neither did mine.......let's keep at it in 2007.  Keep an eye out for Infopia SEO Best Practices, or call one of our eCommerce Gurus to discuss your website.

Google.com - Top Searches in 2006
1. bebo
2. myspace
3. world cup
4. metacafe
5. radioblog
6. wikipedia
7. video
8. rebelde
9. mininova
10. wiki

Google News - Top Searches in 2006
1. paris hilton
2. orlando bloom
3. cancer
4. podcasting
5. hurricane katrina
6. bankruptcy
7. martina hingis
8. autism
9. 2006 nfl draft
10. celebrity big brother 2006

2007 New Year's Resolutions

Imagine yourself in a week or so after the craziness of the holiday shopping season has passed. You're enjoying a cup coffee in a moment of quiet, reviewing the successes of the past year and musing about the coming year. Your business seems to be humming along--the numbers are good, your employees and customers seem happy, and things are generally going well. It's business, so there are bumps, but you're able to overcome challenges and are looking forward to another good year. I challenge you not to.

Huh? you say.

That's right. You don't really want to have a good year. You don't want to be Average Company USA, shoulder to shoulder with the hundreds of other good companies. I challenge you to have a GREAT 2007!

You know how to do it. Give yourself some credit! You really do. You just have to decide to do what's necessary. Make a plan with your top 5-10 goals, big and small. You could call them New Year's resolutions for your company. Post them somewhere where you and your coworkers see them often so you can all keep them in mind throughout the year. (I like to have some small, easier, low-hanging-fruit goals to get me going.) You can make your goals as detailed as you want, but a lot of the magic happens just from having a goal written down (you've probably heard that a goal unwritten is only a wish).

Remember to capitalize on your strengths while identifying and attacking your weaknesses. If you need ideas, read back through the posts on this blog; there are lots of good tips here. And then search other blogs and online information. There's a lot of sharing happening on the web, as well as in conferences and gatherings of other ecommerce professionals. No matter what you do, it'll be worth the effort. And when you sit back to reflect on 2007, you'll feel better than good. You'll feel great!

Here's wishing you a GREAT New Year!

Black Friday vs. Cyber Monday - Round 1

Our favorite shopping day has come and gone and the numbers are in – and they are pretty impressive! Even I was one who braved the early morning crowds to get a great deal. Yes, I got up at 3 am and stood in line for 3 hours waiting for the store to open. This year I did a little research before hand and knew exactly where Mio DigiWalker GPS for $150 systems would be. I made it in and out of the store in 22 min flat. Here are the holiday shopping stats so far.

According to comScore, sales are up 42% this year over last with $434 million spent.  Nielsen//NetRatings reports an increased audience in all categories, lead by consumer electronics at 211% and apparel at 117% increase.  Listed below are the top sites for this year’s busiest shopping day, Black Friday:

11/24/06

Site	UA (000)
eBay	7,454
Amazon	3,404
Wal-Mart	3,248
Target	2,267
Best Buy	1,691
Circuit City	1,140
Shopzilla.com Network	1,032
JC Penney	996
Overstock.com	957
Sears	887
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, 2006

And what are online shoppers looking for when making the purchase decision?

Free shipping
Discount prices
Free or “no-hassle” returns
Free gift wrapping

SEO Tips – Hot Off the PubCon Showfloor in Las Vegas

I just got back from PubCon in Las Vegas. (No, I didn’t win big, thanks for asking.) There were some interesting sessions about optimization for ecommerce sites. Here are a few tips that I thought were important.

• Create unique descriptions for all of your products. Do not use manufacturers copy, this will decrease the chance of getting penalized for duplicate content. If you have thousands of SKU’s, pick your top 100-200 to start with.
• Keep your navigation as text links.
• Try to get quality links over quantity. And Matt Cutts from Google said “No Link Exchanges, don’t even bother”
• Finally, the representatives from the Search Engines agreed, there are no good uses for 302 re-directs, ever!

And finally, whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, unless you lose a lot of money and your wife checks the bank account. That tends to follow you home!